Description
Book SynopsisThe concept of gender has rarely been used as a category of analysis in African literary circles and feminist theory is often seen as applicable only to western contexts. This book applies gender as a category of analysis to the works of sub-Saharan women writers. It appropriates western feminist theories of gender in an African literary context.
Trade ReviewIn this fascinating book Nfah-Abbenyi (Univ. of Southern Mississippi) offers a series of well-written, perceptive essays examining works of well-known African writers such as Buchi Emecheta, Bessie Head, Mariama Bâ (Ba) , Ama Ata Aidoo, and Tsitsi Dangarembga and a number of lesser-known African writers such as Calixthe Beyala, Delphine Zanga Tsogo, and Werewere Liking. Herself an African literary critic, the author takes a critical look at how African women writers coming from both Anglophone and Francophone traditions question and reinterpret the contradictions inherent in gender relations. Using African literary context and her own experiences growing up in Cameroon, she carefully examines feminist theories and how they relate to African literature. She discusses the issue of identity in the development of three major novels—Emecheta's Joys of Motherhood, Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions, and Aidoo's Changes: A Love Story. She follows this with an examination of sexuality in the novels of three Cameroonian writers (Beyala, Zanga Tsogo, and Liking), and a comparative discussion of Head's Maru and two lesser-known novels. This book reaffirms Bessie Head's remark that books are a tool, in this case a tool that allows readers to understand better the rich lives and the condition of African women. Excellent notes and a rich bibliography. Upper-division undergraduates and above.June 1998
-- C. Pike * University of Minnesota *
Table of ContentsPreface; Acknowledgements Introduction; 1. Gender, feminist theory, and post-colonial (women's) writing; 2. (Re)constructing identity and subjectivity: Buchi Emecheta, Ama Ata Aidoo, Tsitsi Dangarembga; 3. Sexuality in Cameroonian women writers; Delphine Zanga Tsogo, Calixthe Beyala, Werewere Liking; 4. Women redefining difference: Mariama B , Miriam Tlali, Bessie Head; Conclusion Notes; Bibliography; Index
